Physical therapist John D'Amico has a volunteer demonstrate the correct position for a hip stretch.

For most older golfers, doing a few knee bends and shoulder swings on the first tee is about the extent of their warm-up routine. And that's fine for the short term.

But John D'Amico, a Naples, Fla.-based physical therapist believes in order to keep playing long after retirement, senior golfers need to work harder to maintain what strength, stamina and power you have left -- because after a certain age, it's almost impossible to make great gains in physical fitness.

If you don't have it by then, D'Amico said, you won't be able to regain it.

"Fitness for life after 50 isn't about making great gains," said D'Amico, who owns Golf Fitness Edge and presented his findings as part of the PGA Merchandise Show last month. "In the long run, it's about slowing down loss. It's kind of like building a retirement account for your body that you can draw from.

"This is really important after age 70, because we lose the ability to produce greater amounts of power and strength -- two things that are critical to the golf game."

So how do you maintain your physical fitness later in life? D'Amico said there are five simple exercises anyone can do at home -- without expensive equipment -- that will go a long way to helping your flexibility, balance, strength and power.

In order, they are:

Seated Thoracic Posture Restoration

Breathing Mechanics Restoration

Single Knee to Chest Hip Stretch

Hip Hinge Goblet Squat

Standing Cross Body Crawl Pattern

Don't let the names fool you into thinking these exercises are complicated, D'Amico said. On the contrary, they mimic movements you learned to do early in your life.

Here's a description of each exercise, with illustrations.

Seated Thoracic Posture Restoration

1. Sit tall in a high-back dining room chair
2. Place a small bath towel rolled length ways at the level of the bottom of your shoulder blade
3. Gently push your mid back into the towel without pain for two minutes
4. Move the towel up your shoulder blades, holding each for two minutes gently without pain. The last towel position will be at the top of the shoulder blade
5. Perform this exercise 1-2 times a day
6. Watch TV or on converse with someone across the room to promote proper posture. Do not read, use phone, tablet or computer while doing this exercise, as this will negatively influence your posture

1. While sitting or standing straight in an upright torso posture, hands on lower ribs
2. Place hands on outside of lower ribs
3. Relax your body and take a normal breath
4. Feel your hands push away from your body as you breathe in
5. Feel your hands pull in as you breathe out
6. Five repetitions, five times per day

Single Knee to Chest Hip Stretch

1. Resting on a firm surface or bed (pillow optional) gently brace your stomach
2. Use a bed sheet to pull your thigh towards (not to!) your chest. Do not move past a point that the pelvis begins to rock on the low back. You may notice this as the point your straight leg begins to lift up
3. The total limit of this exercise is 120 degrees. This point may take months to attain
4. Perform for 90 seconds to two minutes each leg, one to two times per day
5. Perform gently without any pain

Hip Hinge Goblet Squat

1. Stand tall
2. Activate (gently brace) your stomach muscles
3. Arms Across your chest with 5-pound dumbbell or two-liter soda bottles in double-bagged plastic grocery bags at your chest
4. Maintain your head, spine and pelvic posture, as if you had a board nailed from the back of your head to your tailbone
5. Push your tailbone back and down as you begin to hinge hips, knees and ankles simultaneously Maintain the bottom of the dumbbell or seltzer bottle against your body throughout the exercise
6. Depth of squat is controlled by your ability to maintain your head, spine and pelvic posture
7. When learning this exercise it is best to perform five reps, four times per day
8. After learning this exercise and as a warm up for golf perform sets sets of 10 repetitions

Standing Cross Body Crawl Pattern

1. Standing with hands at shoulder level, lift one hand and the opposite foot six inches.
2. Return to original position
3. Repeat with other hand and foot
4. If balance is an issue you may stand at countertop and if necessary keep one hand at a time on counter
5. Perform this exercise 20 repetitions, five times per day
6. Try to perform this exercise rhythmically, and maintain your balance for safety

The result of doing these exercises should improve all the things that control the physical part of your golf game, D'Amico said.

"In developing a better body and better mind, we can develop a better body-swing connection," he added.

Brandt Snedeker won at Torrey Pines in 2012 and finished runner-up in 2010 and 2013.

Torrey Pines may fall under the jurisdiction of the San Diego Parks and Rec Department, but this isn't your typical muni.

At 7,628 yards, the South course is the longest course on the regular PGA Tour schedule. Credit Rees Jones, who in 2001 redesigned Torrey Pines to prepare the course to host the 2008 U.S. Open. The Farmers Insurance Open may just be part of the western winter swing, but nobody in this weekend's field will consider it a breather.

A check of the previous winners bears out that contention: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Billy Casper and Tom Watson were all victorious at Torrey Pines. Phil Mickelson has three wins. Tiger Woods has seven.

There are amazing coastline views from some of the holes, but the golfer who loses any concentration while checking out the view will find that reflected on his scorecard. Scott Stallings birdied four holes on the back nine -- including the 18th -- in the final round last year to win by a stroke.

With that, here are five players to watch this week.

5. Dustin Johnson2014 Farmers Insurance Open: Did not playReason to watch: Since taking a six-month leave of absence from the PGA Tour after the RBC Canadian Open in July, Johnson has a new son, a new life coach and a new attitude. Living closer to father-in-law Wayne Gretzky couldn't have hurt, either. The NHL's all-time leading scorer knows a little bit about putting the biscuit in the basket, and according to a story on SI.com, Johnson recently shot a course-record 61 at Sherwood Country Club.

Is he ready for the return to tournament golf? If Tiger Woods at TPC Scottdale last weekend is any indication, Johnson could be rusty. But the fact that the eight-time winner wants to get his comeback under way, that's a good first step in the right direction.

4. Pat Perez2014 Farmers Insurance Open: Tied for secondReason to watch: Perez's only PGA Tour victory came at the 2009 Bob Hope Classic, but that's not really indicative of his potential. And, as you'll hear constantly throughout this weekend, he went to Torrey Pines High School, worked at the golf course range -- and beat Tiger Woods in the Junior Worlds at Torrey Pines his senior year. It's possible Perez has more rounds of golf there than anyone else in the field. It's time for him to use that local knowledge to his advantage.

3. Phil Mickelson2014 Farmers Insurance Open: Withdrew with injuryReason to watch: Just like last week at Phoenix, Lefty is a multiple winner of this event (1993, 2000, 2001). Mickelson's return to his ASU roots didn't go so well, as he missed the cut after rounds of 69-76 at TPC Scottsdale. So instead of hanging around for the Super Bowl, Phil headed back to his hometown.

"I will maybe get even a little extra practice round in or two over at Torrey and get ready," Mickelson said. "See if I can get my short game sharp."

If Mickelson finds that elusive short game -- ask Tiger Woods about that -- he could be a factor come Sunday.

2. Brandt Snedeker2014 Farmers Insurance Open: Missed cutReason to watch: Sneds had an uncharacteristically lousy 2014, going winless for the first time in three seasons and finishing 86th in the FedExCup standings, just two years after winning it all. Perhaps injuries -- cracked ribs, muscle tightness, a left knee injured in a Segway accident -- caught up with him.

But he's off to a good, if not great, start to 2015. He posted three consecutive top-10 finishes in the final three events of the fall schedule. And he knows how to contend at Torrey Pines. In addition to his 2012 victory, he finished tied for second in 2010 and 2013.

1. Hideki Matsuyama2014 Farmers Insurance Open: Tied for 16thReason to watch: Matsuyama's putter failed him at the worst possible time Sunday at TPC Scottsdale, dooming him to a runner-up finish behind Brooks Koepka, despite shooting 63-67 on the weekend.That included this amazing hole out for eagle on the first hole Sunday -- from a sand-filled divot, no less.

He has five top-25 finishes in seven starts already this season, and the win at The Memorial last year proved he can compete on the PGA Tour -- not that top-10 finishes in the U.S. Open and Open Championship hadn't already cemented his status as Japan's best young rising talent. In fact, the San Diego Union-Tribune pretty much had it pegged back in 2013.

After the Waste Management Phoenix Open ended on Sunday, the men and women who play tournament golf for a living had nothing else to do – so they watched a football game.

Well, sort of. The pro tour players were as interested in the Super Bowl as everyone else – several of them even made it to the big game. Here's how they reacted to the action between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, starting with that longtime football fan Luke Donald and followed closely by Patriots fanatic Keegan Bradley:

Hideki Matsuyama celebrates Sunday after his eagle on the first hole at TPC Scottsdale.

Talk about making the best of a bad situation.

Hideki Matsuyama's tee shot on the first hole Sunday at TPC Scottsdale landed in a sand-filled divot. That's one of the worst breaks possible, because you need to make a perfect strike on the ball or it could go anywhere.

So what did Matsuyama do? Exactly that, as this video proves:

Matsuyama turned a terrible situation into an incredible eagle hole out -- and kicked off his round in the best way possible.

A group of hardy golfers take to the ice at Mountain Lake, New Jersey, for their annual tournament on Super Bowl weekend.

Forget sitting on comfy sofas around the living room, loading up on snacks and watching the action from Glendale, Ariz. These intrepid golfers have their own Super Bowl to play -- on their own "frozen tundra."

According to a story written by John Best on lehighvalleylive.com, a group of Hackettstown, N.J., High School alums get together every year to create a golf course on frozen Mountain Lake, and then host a golf tournament on Super Bowl Sunday. They've been doing it since 2003.

Depending on the conditions, Best writes "... holes can be several hundred yards from the tees and they place small flags in the holes so they can easily locate them. After the initial drive, they use clubs to hit off the ice and finish with putters just as they would in regular golf."

Surprisingly, it's not as easy as you might think, mainly because of temperature, friction and because "long shots land with a thud -- making small impact craters in the ice -- which lessens the distance it rolls."

This year's tournament was moved up one day because of a forecast of snow on Sunday, and was played on a six-hole course that ranges from 50 to 100 yards in length. Just in case putters were ineffective, the event's organizers provided hockey sticks.

Tiger Woods failed to make the cut at this weekend's Waste Management Open in Phoenix.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Tiger Woods, coming off an 82 for his worst round as a pro, will be out of the top 50 in the world ranking for the first time in more than three years.

And if he doesn't turn his game around quickly, he will be ineligible for a World Golf Championship for only the second time in his career.

Woods was No. 1 in the world eight months ago. But after missing most of last year recovering from back surgery, and playing poorly in the few times he did play, Woods made his 2015 debut in the Phoenix Open at No. 47 in the world. He missed the cut by 12 shots.

Woods will be no better than No. 53 next week, and could fall even farther depending on what happens at the Phoenix Open and Dubai Desert Classic. Woods has not been lower than 58th in the world since winning the first of his 79 title on the PGA Tour at the Las Vegas Invitational in October 1996.

He last was out of the top 50 on Nov. 27, 2011. Woods won the Chevron World Challenge the next week and moved up to No. 21.

Woods is playing next week at Torrey Pines, where he is an eight-time winner but last year missed the 54-hole cut. After a two-week break, he then plays the Honda Classic. He will have to be in the top 50 after the Honda Classic to be eligible for the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral.

The only other WGC event for which Woods didn't qualify was the HSBC Champions in 2011, another year marked by injuries and no wins.

The question as he left Phoenix was how quickly he could turn it around. Woods is in the early stages of a fifth swing change. He left Sean Foley during his four-month break from golf at the end of last year and has hired Chris Como as a consultant.

More startling was his chipping. Woods says he doesn't have a feel for where the bottom of the club should be when he makes contact on his short-game shots. It was embarrassing at times at TPC Scottsdale. He chose to play safer shots along the ground than to get the ball more in the air. When he no option to pitch the ball in the air, he either flubbed it or bladed it.

Woods tied for last with club pro Michael Hopper. Including the 18-man field at the Hero World Challenge in December, he now has tied for last in two straight events.

He was going to attend the Super Bowl in nearby Glendale but instead flew home to Florida on Friday. His plans until he tees it up next week at the Farmers Insurance Open?

"Practice each and every day," Woods said. "Just work on it."

This article was written by Doug Ferguson from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.

Headline:
Tiger could miss Doral after dropping out of top 50 rankings